Loader.



Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

I 337355764 ZW( /J A. M. GOVV 8L F. E. KEESE.

LOADER.

APPLICATION FILED P1I`AR.13| X915.

lne.

lilhllllllElii STAVE PATENT FlFllQ.v

ALEXANDER, IVI. GUW, 0F DULUTH, MINNESOTA, AND FRANK E. KEESE, OF ISHPEMING,

MICHIGAN.

LOADER.

Specieation of Letters Patent.

atented' Apr.. 2a, 191i '7.

Application filed Tiarch 13, 1916. Serial No. 83,963.

loading material into cars, and is designed' especially for use underground in mines. After the ore, either 1n the breast of a drift, or in a slice, is broken down by blasting,

it is customary to shovel it into small .tram V cars. As the drift proceeds the'tracks are laut so that the vdistance between the `car and the broken ore shall be as little as possible. The ore is loaded by shovels and thisloading, or mucking, as it is called, is extremely laborious inasmuch as the niucker i has his back to the car and faces the broken ore, and must throw ore over his shoulder into the car. A great many machines have been proposed to do this werk, but as yet` practically all mucking is done by hand. lt is obvious that it is essential that a loading machine shall be free .from complicated mechanism. The conditions under which the machine mustI work are extremely severe, and the making of repairs underground is a very diiiicult matter. ln the design of our machine we have triednot so much to reduce the number of men employed as to lessen the amount of their'iabor, or with a given amount of manual faber, to increase the tonnage of ore handgd.

The invention will be more readily understood by 'reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein*u l Figure l is a longitudinal section of a mining drift showing an application of our loader;

Fig. 2 is a cross section through the drift on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and

F ig. 3 is a view similar if iig. i. showing a slightly modified cons ion as applied to a rock drift.

Referring more and 2, it will be seen overhead carrier cons l@ placed back-to-bacl of ai cover plate 1l at i r provide an channels cured to and'extending transversely of the carrier are I-beams l2, to the ends of which are hinged the legs 13-13, 141-14, each of which is provided with an extension nut l5 for adjusting the length ofthe leg. The exact form of the supports or braces is not important and other types of braces may be utilized to advantage. The upper edgeof I the carrying member rests against the cross timbers 16, the tracks or carrying element 10 being preferably inclined rearwardly, as shown. 0n the outer end of the track member 10, we provide a platform or bracket l 1T, on which is mounted a motor 18, pro* vided with a suitable drum. A rope, or cable, extends 'from the drum vbetween rthe two channels l0, passing around a sheave 19, thence rearwardly over'av sheave 20 carried by the trolley bestshown in Fig. 3, then downward into engagement with a scoop 2l. The cable is directly connected to the ,scoop through a bail 22. The trolley consists of a frame 23, which carries trolley wheels 24, adapted to run upon the lower flanges of the channels 10. The shaft 25, upon which the sheave 2,0 is mounted, also acts to supporta hookv 26, which may be actuated by means of a handle or lever 27, best shown in Fig. l. The hook 26 acts to engage the bail 22 of the scoop and supportthe scoop in its travel to and from the rear end of the track. A plurality of apertures 28 in the track are intended to accommodate a pin 28x1 which act as stops to limit the forward travel of the trolley.

In operation, it being assumed'that the material 29 is to be loaded into the cars 30, the parts are located 'as shown in Fig. l. The scoop 2l is then filled with the material by a combined manual and power operation through the agency of the motor and cable, whereupon the scoop is lifted to the .dotted line position and into engagement with the hookfi, whereupon the trolley is caused to travel. down the inclined track, preferably by gra vity, and the scoop is dumped into the car. The trolley and scoop may then be returned to the initial position through the agency of the motor and the scoop disengaged from the hookby actuating the handle or lever 27, whereupon the opera range of the loading apparatus is Apractically limited only bythe length of the cable, as the scoop, after having been loaded, may be dragged along the ground by thev motor until itis elevated into engagement With the trolley; therefore, that the parts constituting the track and support ,may serve their purpose for a considerable length` of time in one location.A

A device such as described provides a unitary loading structure; that is', omev Which may be handled as a unit in advancing it in the drift.. llt is so arranged that the beam 'which acts as the rigid track has a long -overhung advance end adapted to be 'prol beamagainst the roof of the tunnel. When in contact A.with the roof the inclined legs assure stability of the structure against forces in all directions.

A particular .advantage arises from our method of mounting the motor in the drift. It Will be vunderstood that the space Within the drift is limited and also that the' tram car to be loaded must be brought to a point beneath the beam' which acts as a track; furthermore that the motor must -be rigidly secured. It cannot be mounted on or secured to the tram car track as the tram car must occupy the extreme inner end' of the track. We overcome all these difficulties by rigidly securing the motor to the beam; it is thus out of the Way-is moved with the beam and p it requires no separate fastening'devices to make it rigid;

. It is obvious also that the construction shown is typical only, and that modifications may be made therein Without departure from the spirit of our invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a mine loading device, the combinal tion of a beam providing arunvvay, means for rigidly and readily removably mounting y said beam relative .to the Walls of the space containing it, a car track on th.e floor of the space beneath lsaid beam, a motor mounted above said track to permit free passage of i a car on the track therebeneath,4 and car yLezama loading means operable by said motor and movable on said runway, substantially as described.

2. Ina mine loader,'the combinationof a beam adapted to be rigidly located with its inner end in the eXtreme inner end df the drift, a tram car track vbeneath the outer end of said beam, a motor mountedv above said track, al scoop, and cable connections between said motor and scoop, the parts being so arranged that ore located beneath the inner end of said beam is transported by the scoop to a.point above a car on the track beneath the outer end of the beam and there dumped, substantiallyk as described;

' 3. ln an underground loading machine, a rearwardly inclined, vertically adjustable, trolley carrying, hollow track; transverse anembers secured to the track, hinged adjustable legs secured to the members, a sheave Wheel secured to the front end of the track,

a trolley adapted to travel on ,the track, a

sheave carried by the trolley, a d'rum sel cured t0 the rear end of the track, mea-ns for driving the drum, a rope adapted to be Wound on the drum, passing longitlulinallyA through the hollow track and over each sheave, a scoop secured to the free .end of the rope, and means on'the trolley for securing'the scoop in raised position. 1 1

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a traclr'member and adjustable legs attached to said track member, lsaid ltrack comprising two angular members in spaced relation, a sheave mounted on one end of said track, a drum mounted at\` the"` opposite end of said track, a trolley adapted to travel on -said track, a sheave mounted on said trolley, a rope Wound on said drum and Aextending between the track members and over the sheaves, a scoop to which the other end of said rope is attached, means on 'said trolley for supporting said scoop Whenin raised position and means connected to said drum for the opera-tion thereon, substantially asdeScribed.

Signed at Duluth, Minn., this 23d day of February, A'. D. 1916.

' v ALEXANDER M. GOW. Witnesses:

E. H. I-IiNDoM E. B. RYAN, Jr. Signed at Ishpeming, Michigan, this 8th day of March, A. D. 1916.

Y v F. E. KEESE.

Witnesses:

HARRY T. HULST, H. R. HICKORY. 

